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Cast:
Lam
Ching Ying
Miu
Kiu Wai
Wilson
Lam
Michiko
Nishiwaki
Wu
Ma
Billy
Chow
Frankie
Chan
Action:
Lam
Ching Ying
Producer:
Lam
Ching Ying
Director:
Stephen
Tung Wai
Score:
 
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MAGIC
COP
AKA:
Mr. Vampire 5 ||
Mister Vampire 5
Year:
1990 Reviewer: Tony
Ryan
As
one of Hong Kong action cinema’s greatest performers, Lam
Ching Ying has contributed greatly to the pantheon of classic
action flicks that are available worldwide. He has won awards
for his fight choreography appeared in some of the finest
fight scenes ever opposite greats like Yuen Biao and Jackie
Chan while being a member of the stunt teams of both Sammo
Hung and Bruce Lee. Yet many fight fans still see him merely
as a Taoist priest thanks to his fabulous performance in 'Mr
Vampire', and he was always typecast as such whenever he
was asked to play a leading role.
Both
the director of this feature, Tung Wai and star Lam Ching Ying
were handpicked by Bruce Lee and seen opposite him in 'Enter
the Dragon', highlighting their quality, (although most
people wouldn’t recognise them), and it is fair to say that
both have made superior features in their HK careers, but that
should not deter you from seeing this worthwhile action flick.
Essentially an updated version of Lam’s earlier and
groundbreaking success 'Mr Vampire', we see Lam as a modern
day cop battling against supernatural forces using his
familiar Taoist techniques.
Unlike
other action stars, Lam did not go for lengthy fight
sequences, instead using his superior hand-to-hand skills to
quickly defeat or restrain his opponents. Many of these skills
are a joy to watch, while not as aesthetically pleasing as the
usual kicks and flips seen in other martial arts movies, they
are still exciting and true practitioners of arts like Wing
Chun will be impressed. There is much to enjoy about this
film, and the ingenuity shown in many scenes is typical of HK,
proving that it can offer a lot more than found in Hollywood
no-brainers.
If
you have the chance this is definitely worth checking out,
however, at present it does not have a DVD release. Hopefully
someone like HKL will release it in the future. If, like me,
you are a fan of Lam Ching Ying then VHS copies are available
if you hunt them down.
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